Nathan Ballard

List: San Francisco Reacts to Bin Laden's Death

Who Understands Ranked-Choice Voting? Nobody.

Nobody understands ranked-choice voting ... especially the politicians who lose​The one thing that makes perfect sense about ranked-choice voting is that nobody seems to understand it. And a new poll validated this notion recently. According to a Chamber of Commerce poll, more than half of those w ... More >>

Warren Hellman Leaves Prop. B Campaign -- Shocks Prop. B Backers

Joyce GoldschmidWarren Hellman has moved on to Plan B...​No obligation for campaign to return Hellman's $50KThe No on Proposition B camp -- the union-backed assault on the measure that would mandate workers up their pension and health care contributions -- released a shocker today. An e-mail hit S ... More >>

Werewolf, Leland Yee, Join Forces to Protest Prop. B

Jim HerdLeland Yee, right, and a werewolf would like to talk to you about the upcoming election​Sen. Leland Yee and what appeared to be a werewolf who just stepped out of the shower were on hand today in the Inner Sunset to protest against mandating San Francisco workers pay more toward their pens ... More >>

Phil Davison, Legend

Internet meme Phil Davison has received high praise from a man who used to work for one​Like many users of this here Internet, I was transfixed by video of Phil Davison attempting to wrest away the Republican nomination for treasurer of Stark County, Ohio. Stark County seems a nice enough place -- ... More >>

Good News For Gavin Newsom! Former Flack Votes For Him.

​With today's projected turnout at 33.3 percent -- a palindrome, and all-time low -- it means the record amount of money spent will be spread over a potential record few number of voters.So, every vote counts. And, in a bit of good news for Mayor Gavin Newsom, his former flack, Nathan Ballard, inf ... More >>

Will a big-name Dem run away with the attorney general's race?

Speier Not Running for AG, Horde of Upwardly Mobile Pols Staying Put

Rep. Jackie Speier, seen here with Stephen Colbert, will continue her ride in Washington, D.C. ​Rep. Jackie Speier's newly minted spokesman Nathan Ballard just informed the world that his boss will not be leaving Congress to run for state Attorney General. Congressional seats rarely open -- especi ... More >>

Which Is Worse? Newsom Boycotting Press, or Newsom Blowing off Substantive Questions and Being Nasty?

BrainchildvnI am displeased in you, Hank Plante. ​By now many of you have seen the cringe-worthy Gavin Newsom/Hank Plante interview, an experience every bit as unpleasant as watching Ricky Gervais as David Brent pontificate and condescend in the British version of The Office. Most folks will remem ... More >>

Bay Links: Ballard, Booksellers, & Santa

The eminently quotable Nathan Ballard!​Top five Nathan Ballard quotes. [Sweet Melissa]Quick, where did you stash your slutty Santa costume last year???? [Laughing Squid]Local booksellers not carrying Palin book: ""We're a small store and it would probably gross us all out." [SFgate]The best new bu ... More >>

Mirkarimi: Mayor's Departing Spokesman Shouldn't Be Replaced

There's an allegory here, somewhere...​Older politicians and older political reporters pine for the days when dueling politicos could check out at the end of the day like Ralph and Sam the coyote and sheep dog in old Looney Tunes shorts ("Morning Frank." "Morning Sam."). There was a glimmer of thi ... More >>

Newsom Resign-O-Rama Continues -- Is it Business as Usual or Beginning of End?

So long, Mr. Ryan...​With today's announcement of the departure of Kevin Ryan, the head of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, Gavin Newsom passed an important pinnacle. His right-hand men and women have now quit more times than Brett Favre. It took a while, but Newsom caught up. On a serious ... More >>

Newsom Spokesman Nathan Ballard Says His Piece, Quits

Nathan Ballard​The upside of having multiple spokesmen is that when one leaves, others can announce it. That's what happened today, when Mayor Gavin Newsom's chief spokesman, Nathan Ballard, announced he's leaving the mayor's employ. Ballard and Newsom praised one another in a release sent moments ... More >>

Newsom's Twitter Silence Reaches 13 Days -- Odd *and* Unlucky, But Not Unprecedented

​Gavin Milhous Newsom's Nixon-like treatment of the San Francisco press reached 10 days yesterday. The Chron noted earlier that the man once given the sobriquet Mayor Twitter has even sworn off the service; Newsom last tweeted on Oct. 28. For the past two weeks, Newsom may as well have been Amish ... More >>

Mayor's Office: Supes' Veto Override on Immigrant Policy 'Cannot Take Effect'

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors today mustered enough votes to override Mayor Gavin Newsom's veto of a law softening the city's treatment of juvenile undocumented immigrants who are arrested. But the mayor's office was quick to dismiss the widely expected vote as a symbolic gesture that would h ... More >>

Newsom Continues Ignoring Local Media, But Apparently Talks to NY Times

I like you. Do you like me? ​Ever since Gavin Newsom dropped out of the gubernatorial race and started his freeze on conversations with local media outlets, reporters in and around San Francisco have been moping about, writing their Newsom stories as though they were on the raw end of a bad breaku ... More >>

Transblazer

She just became the city's first transgender department head, but Theresa Sparks is already setting her sights on becoming the city's first transgender supervisor.

Newsom quotes the giant within

SF Gov InAction: In S.F. Math, 2 2 Does Not Equal Four, But Sexual Harrassment = $90,670.20

  Here is the exact moment when covering San Francisco government goes from sad to pathetic: It's when you come home after a nice vacation, dust off your lap-top to catch up on what you've missed, and realize that San Francisco has no idea how many working fire engines it has.I'm pretty sure ... More >>

Mayor's Choice to Replace Wealthy Supporters on Arts Commission -- His Own Employee

Nan Park ImagesAh, but is it art? ​In San Francisco, the term "Arts Commission" is misleading. This is not merely a roomful of wealthy dowagers deciding where to place a bust of Adolph Sutro. A small percentage of funds expended on development projects in the city, by law, are sent the commission' ... More >>

Mayoral Fantasy Football Challenge May Yet Be Won By Anonymous Yahoo Cubicle Jockey

Justin PageRon 'Mad Stork' Dellums​In less than three hours time, a stingy baker's dozen of American mayors -- that'd be 11 -- begin an odyssey toward what could be the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat ... to an unnamed office worker. Yes, it's the Yahoo Fantasy Football Mayoral showdown w ... More >>

Newsom! Dellums! Fantasy Football Draft! Not So Bad!

Justin PageGavin Newsom's fantasy team went a little Niners heavy...​The draft for the Yahoo Mayoral Face-off is in the books and local boys Gavin Newsom and Ron Dellums have crafted rosters that resemble the mayors themselves -- flawed, but interesting. The Fantasy Football challenge pits 11 mayo ... More >>

Transit Train Wreck Turned Aside: Winners and Losers in Tentative BART Settlement

http://world.nycsubway.orgGuess who's still here?​If you rode BART to work this morning and came to the horrible realization that not only was your seat cold, but wet, too -- congratulations! You're still a winner. You can still go get a new pair of pants at Ross or Old Navy and get to work in les ... More >>

Republican Committee Accuses Nancy Pelosi of Cutting Sweetheart Deals for Her 'Nephew,' Gavin Newsom -- Who Is Surprised to Discover He's Pelosi's Nephew

No use hiding it, Nancy! We know your secret!​A blustery Friday release from the National Republican Congressional Committee accused Rep. Nancy Pelosi of playing hardball politics to wrest Treasure Island away from the Navy. No surprise there -- that's not the first we've heard of that. But the Re ... More >>

Mayor's Spokesguy Says Newsom NOT a Co-Sponsor of Proposal to Screw Newspapers

Will HarperGavin likes the cameras and the cameras like him. As for print media, that's not so simple.Last week Matt Smith wrote about a bloc of lefty supervisors proposing a budget-reform charter amendment that would, among other things, eliminate the requirement that the city advertise public noti ... More >>

'Where's Gavin?' Web Site Hasn't Gotten Any Snaps of Mayor on Muni Yet. But It Does Have ... This.

Courtesy wheresgavin.comNice -- but no prize-winnerIn mid-May we wrote about the Where's Gavin? Web site -- which offered San Franciscans a chance to win a free Muni fast pass (value going up, up, up later this summer!) if they managed to snap a photo of Mayor Gavin Newsom actually riding on a Muni ... More >>

SEIU's New Pact With City Looks Remarkably Like Old Pact -- But Won't Save Jobs of 288 Workers Dismissed Today

For the SEIU Local 1021, it may be time to paraphrase The Who: Meet the new wage concessions package, same as the old wage concessions package. Specific details for the deal weren't immediately available -- the bargain was only cut in the wee hours this morning -- but the major pillars of the agreem ... More >>

Posterized: Public Defender Takes Budget Battle To the Streets

In this space we've detailed the increasingly strident and -- at times -- surreal game of "budget chicken" between Public Defender Jeff Adachi and the mayor and his allies. Mayor Gavin Newsom is set to submit a budget on June 1, and Newsom Spokesman Nathan Ballard has repeatedly said that if Adachi ... More >>

During budget talks, the mayor is on the job - technically

Bus-ted: David Chiu Triggers Supes-Mayor Showdown Over Muni Budget

Supervisor David Chiu gives Muni budget the whammy...Whatever David Chiu needs in life -- a faster bike, a more stylish helmet -- he doesn't require assertiveness training. The rookie supervisor and president of the board last month audaciously engineered a motion that would allow the supes to shoot ... More >>

Mirkarimi Jumps on the Marijuana Express -- and Our Bowl Runneth Over

Try San Francisco-brand medical marijuana!Coming on the heels of Tom Ammiano's marijuana legalization bill in the Assembly, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's Tuesday proposal that San Francisco jump into the medical pot dispensary game was a bonanza for media types and marijuana nay-sayers: Everyone got t ... More >>

We Called 511 Instead of 311 For Muni Advice -- And Didn't End Up In Zanzibar

It turns out numerous city departments want to "take" Muni as well -- for millions of dollarsWillie Sutton is the man who is now less famous than his quote for posterity that he robbed banks "'Cause that's where the money is." Makes sense. And, as we learned at Supervisor Bevan Dufty's timely inquis ... More >>

Congrats to World's Media Outlets for a Perfect Month (According to Mayor's Flack)

Earlier this year, in part of what SF Weekly has labeled an "ongoing effort to avoid any give-and-take with an entity it does not control," Mayor Gavin Newsom's official city Web site unveiled a "corrections page" -- where the mayor's top spokesman, Nathan Ballard, would "set the record straight." I ... More >>

Foie Gras Follies: San Francisco's Symbolic Resolution, Ignoring Lesson from Chicago

Public Defender Still Showing Up Every Day at Community Justice Center, 'Keeping Streets Safe From Perfume'

Jeff Adachi claims he's doing the work of three menJeff Adachi is walking through the Polk Street doors of the city's new Community Justice Center every day. The folks he's supposed to represent? Not as often. For the last two weeks -- in what is, depending upon whom you believe, either a theatrical ... More >>

Public Defender Says Stint at Community Justice Center Is No Stunt -- Pledges to Return Every Day

Jeff Adachi says see you at the CJCIt would raise eyebrows around the city if the fire chief grabbed a hose and doused a burning building, the planning director checked in for work behind the permitting counter, or the head of the Department of Public Works hosed human effluvia off city streets. And ... More >>

Introducing a New Recurring Feature: Correcting the Mayor's Corrections Page

This week, as part of its ongoing effort to avoid any give-and-take with an entity it does not control, the mayor's office unveiled a "corrections page" of media stories on Gavin Newsom's city Web site. On this page, Nathan Ballard, the mayor's spokesman, promises "When the media publishes inaccurat ... More >>

Déjà Vu? Newsom's Big Announcement: He Wants to Cut Payroll Taxes -- Which David Chiu Proposed Two Weeks Ago

Is this what is necessary for Gavin Newsom to deign to speak to David Chiu? Or would a phone call suffice?The "economic forum" Gavin Newsom needed to attend rather than accompany the mayors of San Jose, San Diego, and Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. to stump for federal funds turned out to be this m ... More >>

Fong Retires with "Dignity"? Nope: Try "Perjury."

Every time I think the Mayor's office couldn't take 100 homicides any less seriously, he one-ups himself with a stunt like this. By Benjamin Wachs There's lies, damn lies, and then there's the stunt that Gavin Newsom and Heather Fong just pulled. Silent Fong's supporters are going on about how SF' ... More >>

Gavin Newsom's out-of-town businesses with SF addresses

SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin's Message to Newsom: Quit Attacking Me!

Tiger attack claims life of public hearing

Hot Bureaucracy on Bureaucracy Action … Day 5

Cesar Chavez Area Stabbings and Shootings Contribute to Failed Fanatics Sports Bar and Grill: The Derf Butler Story

The Daly Show

Even in a summer of discontent for San Francisco progressives, bad-boy supervisor Chris Daly remains unbowed

Halloween Interrupted: City to Blame

Quality of Hype

Aggressive panhandlers are not getting the gentle, loving care they so need from the city

Muni-Me

Gavin Newsom may be the city's top official, but he's not its highest paid--not even in his own office

Flight Capital

How SFO officials used city employees and money -- in apparent violation of state and federal law -- in a very odd attempt to privatize the airports of Honduras

Letters